Sponsors (2)
The bill protects specific public lands and nearby residents from new limestone-mining impacts, at the trade-off of limiting local mining activity and potentially tightening supply for some industrial users.
Residents and the public gain long-term protection of specified BLM-managed parcels in Garfield County from industrial disturbance, preserving wildlife habitat and scenic public lands.
People living near the listed parcels will face fewer limestone mining expansions, reducing local noise, dust, and landscape disruption and improving local quality of life.
Local workers and communities that depend on mining may lose opportunities because claim holders cannot expand operations or obtain sales contracts on those parcels.
Local construction and industrial users (e.g., utilities and energy companies) could face reduced access to limestone from these BLM parcels, potentially raising costs or causing sourcing delays.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits Interior from processing or approving limestone mining expansions or mineral sales/contracts on specified BLM parcels in Garfield County, Colorado.
Official title: Prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from taking any action to expand the Mid-Continent Limestone Quarry located near Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
Introduced July 23, 2026 by Michael F. Bennet · Last progress July 23, 2026
Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from processing or approving any application to expand existing limestone mining operations or from approving mineral material sales contracts or applications under the Materials Act of 1947 or the Surface Resources Act of 1955 on specified Bureau of Land Management (BLM) parcels in Garfield County, Colorado. The restriction covers expansions of operations on mining or mill site claims under the general mining laws as well as mineral material sales/contracts for the listed parcels. This law applies only to the named BLM parcels in Garfield County (specific township/range/section descriptions). It does not itself create new funding, change taxes, or broadly alter federal mineral law beyond prohibiting approvals for those parcels.